Stephen Appiah tops the list of great Ghanaian players in the 21 century both on the ball and his leader.
Ghana have seen great talents such as Michael Essien, Asamoah Gyan, Sulley Muntari, just to mention but a few from 2000 to 2017, but Stephen Appiah stands tall.
These are his enviable qualities that made him the outstanding footballer among his peers.
On the ball, he is very talented, uses both feet to control the ball, dribbles, give incisive passes and scores as well.
He is also a dead ball expert- scores penalties with high level of accuracy and also dangerous when it comes to free kicks for both club and country.
Appiah has contributed immensely to every single juvenile national team- won the 1995 FIFA U-17 World Cup with the Black Starlets and in 1997 he was part of the U-17 team that finished as runners-up in Egypt.
He also played for the national U-20 football team of Ghana at the World Cup and captained the Olympic team of Ghana in the 2004 Olympics.
His immense contributions to the various national teams including the Black Stars which he would qualify for the FIFA World Cup is second to none.
Stephen Appiah was the first skipper to propel the Black Stars to the FIFA World Cup in 2006 which had eluded Ghana for years- not even during the golden generation had the West African powerhouse written their name boldly on the world map until Appiah surfaced.
Appiah would repeat it in 2010.
The former Udinese playmaker was a unifier during his days at the Black Stars. His leadership role is indeed unquestionable and his former teammates, like Sulley Muntari can attest to that.
Appiah was respected by his teammates and his presence in camp brought much stability to the team.
Stephen Appiah played at the highest level for clubs like Udinese, Juventus, Fenerbache, etc
Even the Chorkor born midfielder, graced the local scene when he was a player of Accra Hearts of Oak.
The most memorable time he had on the local scene came in 1996 when he emerged as the Most Valuable of the FA Cup.
Txt: pulse.com.gh